He was an American Citizen that has been rescued from captors that did not have his best interests in mind.
That's all the justification needed for the rescue IMHO.
We have lost many citizens by capture during wars and other situations. Our Government in most administrations haven't hesitated to do rescue's if possible. Some were successful, some not.
Operation Ivory coast was one that was unsuccessful but attempted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast
On January 30, 1945, a group of U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas set out on a daring nighttime raid on Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines. Led by Ranger Colonel Henry Mucci, they hoped to rescue over 500 American prisoners, including some held by the Japanese since the Bataan Death March.
https://news.yahoo.com/secret-raid-freed-pows-cabanatuan-230000776.html
Two Americans held hostage by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen were freed Wednesday in a surprise deal brokered by the United States, as President Trump emphasizes his record in securing the return of scores of Americans held abroad as a selling point less than three weeks before the election.
The agreement freeing Sandra Loli, an aid worker held hostage for three years, and Mikael Gidada, a businessman held for nearly a year, was only grudgingly accepted by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, which has waged a years-long war against the Houthi rebel group in neighboring Yemen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...a26bd0-0e3e-11eb-b404-8d1e675ec701_story.html
Three Americans held hostage in North Korean prisons have returned home after intense pressure and strategic diplomacy by the Trump administration.
The move is a sweeping win for the muscular foreign policy prescriptions of the Trump administration.
The hostages spent at least a year in captivity in North Korea but were released without preconditions in the lead-up to a historic summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12.
The good-faith release of the American citizens by a hostile world power marked a stark pivot from the diplomatic wanderings of Trump’s predecessor.
It has long been U.S. policy to not negotiate with terrorists or put a price on the heads of Americans held by hostile foreign powers. Obama, however, flouted this norm, opting on multiple occasions to make preconditions and payments to foreign actors in exchange for American lives.
One of the most well-known instances was Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal.
Bergdahl deserted his Army post in Afghanistan in 2009. He was captured by the Taliban and held hostage for nearly five years. Multiple American servicemen searching for him. Ultimately, the Obama administration agreed to trade five high-value Taliban lieutenants, currently imprisoned at Guantanamo, for Bergdahl. The controversial swap took place and Bergdahl returned home to an immediate court marshal.
He was ultimately dishonorably discharged and fined for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He could have faced the death penalty. President Trump called the decision a “complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.”
The Obama administration also secretly airlifted $400 million in cash on wooden pallets in the back of an unmarked cargo plane to Iran 2016.
The release of four jailed Americans in Tehran coincided with the payment. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that the massive payment was a used as leverage for the release of the hostages, according to multiple government officials.
The Daily Caller reported at the time:
“The mechanics of the exchange all but confirm accusations that the $400 million in cash was a ransom payment. Saeed Abedini, a former Iranian hostage told The Wall Street Journal, Iranian intelligence officials told him his plane could not take off until the movements of a second plane were confirmed. The second plane is like the U.S. cargo plane carrying $400 million in cash.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps General Reza Naghdi further confirmed the ransom story in January, telling Iranian state media “Taking this much money back was in return for the release of the American spies.”
It also came on the heels of the approval of the Iran nuclear deal. Congressional Republicans railed against the payments at the time. Senator Marco Rubio said at the time, “The U.S. government should not be in the business of negotiating with terrorists and paying ransom money in exchange for the release of American hostages.”
https://dailycaller.com/2018/05/10/trump-obama-hostage-releases-difference/
Guess who was Vice President at this time?
That's all the justification needed for the rescue IMHO.
We have lost many citizens by capture during wars and other situations. Our Government in most administrations haven't hesitated to do rescue's if possible. Some were successful, some not.
Operation Ivory coast was one that was unsuccessful but attempted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivory_Coast
On January 30, 1945, a group of U.S. Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas set out on a daring nighttime raid on Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines. Led by Ranger Colonel Henry Mucci, they hoped to rescue over 500 American prisoners, including some held by the Japanese since the Bataan Death March.
https://news.yahoo.com/secret-raid-freed-pows-cabanatuan-230000776.html
Two Americans held hostage by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen were freed Wednesday in a surprise deal brokered by the United States, as President Trump emphasizes his record in securing the return of scores of Americans held abroad as a selling point less than three weeks before the election.
The agreement freeing Sandra Loli, an aid worker held hostage for three years, and Mikael Gidada, a businessman held for nearly a year, was only grudgingly accepted by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, which has waged a years-long war against the Houthi rebel group in neighboring Yemen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...a26bd0-0e3e-11eb-b404-8d1e675ec701_story.html
Three Americans held hostage in North Korean prisons have returned home after intense pressure and strategic diplomacy by the Trump administration.
The move is a sweeping win for the muscular foreign policy prescriptions of the Trump administration.
The hostages spent at least a year in captivity in North Korea but were released without preconditions in the lead-up to a historic summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12.
The good-faith release of the American citizens by a hostile world power marked a stark pivot from the diplomatic wanderings of Trump’s predecessor.
It has long been U.S. policy to not negotiate with terrorists or put a price on the heads of Americans held by hostile foreign powers. Obama, however, flouted this norm, opting on multiple occasions to make preconditions and payments to foreign actors in exchange for American lives.
One of the most well-known instances was Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal.
Bergdahl deserted his Army post in Afghanistan in 2009. He was captured by the Taliban and held hostage for nearly five years. Multiple American servicemen searching for him. Ultimately, the Obama administration agreed to trade five high-value Taliban lieutenants, currently imprisoned at Guantanamo, for Bergdahl. The controversial swap took place and Bergdahl returned home to an immediate court marshal.
He was ultimately dishonorably discharged and fined for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He could have faced the death penalty. President Trump called the decision a “complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.”
The Obama administration also secretly airlifted $400 million in cash on wooden pallets in the back of an unmarked cargo plane to Iran 2016.
The release of four jailed Americans in Tehran coincided with the payment. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that the massive payment was a used as leverage for the release of the hostages, according to multiple government officials.
The Daily Caller reported at the time:
“The mechanics of the exchange all but confirm accusations that the $400 million in cash was a ransom payment. Saeed Abedini, a former Iranian hostage told The Wall Street Journal, Iranian intelligence officials told him his plane could not take off until the movements of a second plane were confirmed. The second plane is like the U.S. cargo plane carrying $400 million in cash.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps General Reza Naghdi further confirmed the ransom story in January, telling Iranian state media “Taking this much money back was in return for the release of the American spies.”
It also came on the heels of the approval of the Iran nuclear deal. Congressional Republicans railed against the payments at the time. Senator Marco Rubio said at the time, “The U.S. government should not be in the business of negotiating with terrorists and paying ransom money in exchange for the release of American hostages.”
https://dailycaller.com/2018/05/10/trump-obama-hostage-releases-difference/
Guess who was Vice President at this time?
